The Haines Borough School District recently put its planned absence practices in writing, adding a section to policy to formalize procedures enforced at the front office.

“There was a slight disconnect between what is in our current practice and what is in our current administrative regulation,” superintendent Tony Habra said in an email to staff.

This action follows a letter to the school board last week by veteran teacher Patty Brown, who said planned absences were becoming more common and were negatively affecting the classroom.

“She brought up some valid points,” Habra said, “And so I went back and took a look at what we have done in the past on the subject, what is in current board policy (this is included in the letter), what is in the current administrative regulation and what is our current practice.”

The new “planned absences” section in policy says that a planned absence form should be filled out and turned in – with parent and teacher signatures – at least five days prior to a student absence of five days or more.

If missed days exceed the limit of allowed absences – eight days per semester for grades 6-12 and 16 days per year for grades K-5 – the superintendent and school board must approve it through an Attendance Waiver Form.

According to the new section, teachers of all grades only can prepare lessons and schoolwork for up to five days of absence at a time. Parents are responsible for making sure their student gets the classwork and learns the material.

In a statement about Brown’s letter and the added policy, administrators explained the reasoning behind the change. They included putting limits on expectations for teachers to produce “vacation packets” for extended absences, involving parents in education and not “shaming” parents for allowing their students to miss school.

“We believe that the changes to (the policy) will support teachers and inform parents as we all work to make the best choices for their children,” administrators said in the letter. Habra said he is available for questions about the policy.

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